Special District 9

Old Cat opened the car door and leaped out. He examined his car and noticed that the right rear wheel was lodged deeply inside a layer of loosened snow crust.

“Why do accidents always occur during urgent situations…!”

Old Cat spat coldly as he took out a torchlight from the car. He squatted down to examine the condition of the right rear wheel and found that the wheel was surrounded by a layer of soft snow. It was not in contact with any firm ground at all.

After careful examination, Old Cat rushed over to the back trunk and pulled on the metal wire locking the spare tire in place with all his might. Even so, it took a moment before the spare tire was finally released. However, due to the freezing weather and the snow that had piled up on the car, the spare tire was frozen against the back trunk. So, Old Cat had no choice but to press his entire weight against the spare tire and press it down as hard as he could to dislodge it.

Huaji! Huaji!

A squeaky sound echoed in the air as Old Cat shook the tire with all his might. After shaking for some time, the spare tire finally fell to the ground. However, the triangle hook between the wheel and the metal chain ended up cutting across half of Old Cat’s thigh, and fresh blood spurted all over the ground.

Old Cat looked at the glaring gash on his thigh, but he gritted his teeth and bore with the pain. Not daring to waste any time at all, he quickly pushed the spare tire over and placed it beneath the right rear wheel before returning back to the car.

“Amitabha, Virgin Mary, Lord Jesus… Please do some good and let me go…” Old Cat muttered anxiously beneath his breath as he pulled the car’s clutch and stepped on the accelerator.

“Go!”

Old Cat suddenly pressed down on the accelerator as he roared.

Weng!

The engine roared, and after shaking back and forth, the car finally started to slowly drive out of the loosened snow crust.

Old Cat turned the steering wheel at an angle before pressing down on the accelerator once more, and the car immediately jolted out.

…

In the outer areas of the central city, Qi Lin halted his footsteps while panting heavily for breath. He took out his phone and dialed for Old Cat.

“Hey, have you arrived?”

“Bloody hell. My car got stuck inside a snow crust, I just managed to get it out. I’m reaching the city area soon,” Old Cat cursed.

Qi Lin was taken aback. His face turned pale as he anxiously urged Old Cat, “Hurry up. You need to get to North Station as fast as possible!”

“I know, I know.”

“I’ll be rushing over there too. Let’s keep in contact.”

“Alright.”

Right after saying those words, the two of them ended their call, and Qi Lin began rushing over to North Station as fast as he could.

…

Twenty minutes later.

Huaji!

A car braked along the road in front of North Station. With blood still flowing down his thigh, Old Cat hurriedly locked his car before anxiously looking around the area.

“Qi Yu, Qi Yu…”

But despite looking around for more than two minutes, Old Cat was unable to find Qi Yu anywhere. So, he started shouting for her.

At the entrance of the underground passageway, an old lady walked up the stairs laboriously as she shouted toward Old Cat, “Over here!”

Hearing those words, Old Cat turned around and saw Qi Lin’s mother. Delight swiftly flushed over his face as he rushed over, “Auntie, are you alright? Where’s little sister?”

“She’s waiting for you. Didn’t you see her?” the old lady replied

Old Cat was stunned, “I didn’t see her.”

“I wasn’t able to walk around, so she asked me to wait down there…” the old lady was anxious to hear that Qi Yu was missing. “Hurry up and find her!”

“Yes, calm down. I’ll look for her right now!” Old Cat said as he rushed back to the square and looked around, but Qi Yu was still nowhere to be found.

There was a very small food store by the side of the square. Old Cat rushed over and asked anxiously, “Bro, ask you a question. Did you see a blind little girl waiting over there earlier? She’s quite young, about 13 to 14 years old…”

The boss raised his head and saw Old Cat’s police uniform. He immediately replied honestly, “Yeah, I did. Two cars came earlier and took her away.”

Old Cat a dizzy feeling in his head upon hearing those words. “When did that happen?”

“Around five minutes ago, I think.”

“Did those fellows taking her away say anything?”

“I don’t think so. Four men got down from the car, grabbed her, and left right away.”

“Goddamnit! Why didn’t you stop them then?” Old Cat bellowed in agitation.

The boss rolled his eyes upon hearing those words, “Like I know what they are up to! Besides, does this have anything to do with me? Shoo! Go away and don’t interrupt my business!”

Old Cat glared at the boss as he felt his heart falling into the abyss.

…

In the city.

Qi Lin, who was just about to forcefully stop a car, suddenly heard the phone in his pocket ring.

He took a deep breath before accepting the call, “Hello?”

There was a short moment of silence before a familiar voice sounded, “Hehe, I didn’t think that so many things would happen in the Police Bureau while I was resting for the past two days. If I had known, I would have followed you to the Police Bureau just now.”

Qi Lin could tell that this was Tiger’s voice.

“You thought that you can get away?” Tiger asked with a cold sneer. “Do you have the head for something like that? Come to Dirt Street, your little sister and I are waiting for you there.”

Qi Lin’s body went rigid upon hearing those words.

“Two hours. If you don’t bring what we want over, I can’t promise you that I won’t try to do something inhumane,” Tiger spoke with a snicker. “See you.”

…

Inside the Police Bureau.

Yuan Ke held his phone as he said, “Our main goal is to get the contact information of the supplier. Tell Tiger not to go overboard.”

“I don’t get it. He’s from the Police Bureau, so how the hell did you allow him to slip away? Isn’t the task simple enough? You have already held him for so long, I should be seeing some results by now!” the middle-aged man on the other side of the phone spoke with an impatient voice. “We have accumulated too many stocks. If we don’t get rid of the competitors, we can’t release our stocks at ease!”

“Brother, the Police Bureau doesn’t belong to me. There’s still a wily Old Li above me. We have tried to bring him over to our side for a few times now, but he has been playing the fool all this while… It won’t be good for me to do it too explicitly, or else he could get in our way,” Yuan Ke replied with a frown.

“That Old Li really doesn’t know what is good for him. I’ll find an opportunity to get rid of him.”

“Get rid your head! Is getting rid of people the only thing that you can think of?” Yuan Ke howled in agitation. “He’s the highest leader in the Police Bureau at the moment! Why would you get rid of him when there’s no conflict of interest? Are you insane?”

“You can wash your hand out of that matter concerning that little policeman. Tiger will deal with it. You just need to head over later on to get the lead.”

There was a moment of silence before the middle-aged man hung up the phone.

…

Moving along the pitch-black road, Qi Lin dialed Old Cat’s number with reddened eyes.

“I’ve reached, but I can’t find your little sister. A store owner nearby told me that two cars…” Old Cat started to explain the situation anxiously.

“She has been captured,” Qi Lin interjected Old Cat’s words with a chilly tone.

Old Cat froze on the spot.

“There’s something I need your help on.”

“What is it?” Old Cat immediately replied.

“I need you to help me look into the current situation surrounding Yuan Ke…” Qi Lin replied with a determined voice.

Hearing those words, Old Cat widened his eyes in disbelief as he asked, “What the hell are you trying to do here? Why would you need me to look into this?”

“… I’m standing before a cliff, and countless people are standing behind me, trying to push me down. Fine, if this is what fate has in store with me, I’ll accept it. I’ll jump right in and see if I can survive the fall,” Qi Lin replied with clenched fists. “If you think of me as a friend, do me this one last favor.”

“Bro, you need to calm down. If it doesn’t work out…”

“Old Cat, are you really telling me to stay calm? Over the past few years, has there been anyone who has been as calm as me? If there is any way out, would I still leap off the cliff?” Qi Lin howled in agitation. “If you don’t help me, I’ll charge right into the Police Bureau to confront Yuan Ke!”

…

Deep at night, eleven o’clock.

Along Black Street Sector’s New Epoch Road 75, there was a three-storey villa. On the second floor, a plump man, together with his two friends, was eating a sumptuous spread of hot pot.

On the first floor of the villa, a man pushed open the glass door and entered with a body cloaked in snow.